Uncle Dudley
by rainbows light up the sky
Summary: When Harry, Ginny, James, Albus and Lily go to visit Dudley, his wife and daughter.


**Author's Notes:** New story! Yay! So, this idea just popped into my head awhile ago, I started to write it, forgot about it, remembered it, finished writing it and uploaded it here! So, here you go, a nice little one-shot. Oh, and I want to point out, I made up the name of the village … and I know Dudley is really James, Albus and Lily's second cousin, but uncle just sounds so much better.

~*~

"Mum, do we _have _to go?" complained eight year old James Potter.

"Yes, James. Now, put on your trainers," Ginny Potter told her eldest son.

James huffed, grabbed his trainers from the floor and walked to the small bench beside the back door of the Potters' house. As James slowly put his trainers on his feet and did up the Velcro straps, his father, Harry Potter, walked into the small room.

"Ah, James, are you excited to go?" asked Harry.

"Yes, Dad, _very_ excited," James lied, trying not to spoil his dad's good mood. If truth could be told, Harry almost seemed _too_ happy.

"Why can't Rosie and Hugo come?" Seven year old Albus Potter walked into the room with his five year old sister, Lily Potter, following.

"Because Rosie and Hugo aren't related to them," explained Ginny.

"But _we're_ related to them," retorted Albus.

"Yes, Al, but this is a different relationship," said Harry. "Go wait by the fireplace if you're ready to go."

Albus started to turn and walk back down the hallway; however, his mum stopped him halfway.

"Al, wait; you need a cloak!"

Ginny quickly stepped to the hall cupboard and pulled out a long blue cloak.

"Aren't we just Flooing?" asked Albus, taking the cloak from his mum and attempting to tie it around his neck.

"We're Flooing to the Leaky Cauldron and then taking the Muggle taxi the rest of the way," explained Ginny, bending to her knees to help tie Albus' cloak. "James, you'll need your cloak, too."

"Yes, Mum," James said, standing up from the bench and walking to the cupboard. He reached in and pulled out his red cloak.

"Do you need help tying that, James?" asked Harry as he helped Lily with her cloak.

"No, Dad, I'm not a baby, I can do it myself!" said James, wrapping the cloak around his body.

"I'm not a baby, either!" said Lily, glaring at her oldest brother.

"He never said you were, Lily," said Harry.

"Lily, just go wait by the fireplace," Ginny said after helping Albus.

"Fine," said Lily. As she walked past James she stuck out her tongue. In response, James stuck his out, too.

~*~

"James, watch out!" cried Ginny, gripping Lily's small hand. "Harry, grab his hand! Don't let him out of your sight!"

They were walking through the busy streets of Muggle London. Ginny was overwhelmed with all the people – all the Muggles. It felt odd.

"I've got it, Gin, no need to worry!" Harry called back.

The five Potters continued to walk along the busy and crowded sidewalk until they came across a long row of taxi cars.

"Here we are," said Harry, still holding onto James' and Albus' hands.

"Okay, now, which one?" asked Ginny, looking at each car.

"Whichever one wants to take us," explained Harry, smiling.

"And how do we know which one will take us, Dad?" asked James.

"Like this –" And with that, Harry walked over to the first taxi and talked.

"Excuse me, sir."

The man inside the taxi was reading a newspaper with glasses riding on the end of his nose. He had curly, grey hair almost hidden under a dark, red hat.

"Eh," said the man, not looking up from his newspaper.

"I was wondering – could you give us a drive up to Robertson Hill?"

"Get in the car."

Harry waved Ginny, James, Albus and Lily over to the yellow taxi.

~*~

"Here y'are," said the taxi driver, pulling up to a posh house which reminded Harry of his aunt and uncle's house.

The five Potter stepped out of the car and stood on the broad sidewalk. Harry pulled a handful of Muggle money from his pocket and passed it to the driver through the window of the car.

"Change?" asked the driver.

"No, you can keep it," replied Harry, walking back over beside Ginny.

"Thank you, sir – and ma'am." He tipped his hat slightly and drove off.

"Well, this is it, boys and Lily. Welcome to your Uncle Dudley's house."

The children turned so they were looking at the house full on.

"Um …" said Albus.

"It's …"

"What d'you want us to say, Dad?" asked James.

"Ah … I'm not really sure." Harry scratched the back of his head. "Shall we go in?"

"Yeah, let's go in," proposed Ginny. "C'mon, kids, go on up the walkway."

James took the lead, stepping carefully over every crack in the pathway leading up to the stairway that reached the house. He climbed the steps and waited at the top.

"Who wants to ring the doorbell?" asked Ginny. "It's like magic!"

"Me!" shouted Lily, pushing past her brothers. "Where is it, Mum?" Her eyes were full of excitement.

"Right there, Lily. The glowing button," explained Harry.

Lily ran forward and hit the button. She continued to stare at the glowing circle.

"Well, where's the magic?" asked Lily, chest fallen.

"Didn't you hear the sound?" asked Harry. "A bell goes off in the house, let's Dudley know we're here."

Lily's mouth turned into an O.

Soon, the front door swung wide open.

"Hullo, Mr Potter," said the tall, wide man in the doorway.

"Mr Dursley," greeted Harry, stepping forward to shake Dudley's hand.

"Sure has been awhile," commented Dudley once Harry stepped back.

"Yeah, it has been."

There was a long moment of silence, before Dudley ushered them into the house.

~*~

Ginny, James, Albus and Lily sat upon the lumpy sofa by the wall. Harry occupied one of the chairs beside the fireplace across from Dudley.

"So, Big D, where's your wife?" asked Harry.

"In the kitchen fixing dinner, she'll be out any minute," replied Dudley. "And my daughter – she's helping, loves cooking, Sarah does."

"Well, that's lovely," said Ginny. "I wish my kids liked cooking, too, but no, they'd rather ride a broom!"

"We don't have to worry about brooms, only for cleaning," said Dudley.

Ginny laughed a nervous laugh.

"Dudley!" called a voice.

"Yes, Roseanne?" asked Dudley, getting out of his chair.

"Mind helping me?"

"Sure!" he yelled back. "I'll just be a minute," he said to the Potters as he walked to the kitchen door.

"Can we go home now?" moaned Albus.

"Al, we just got here!" cried Ginny.

"Yeah, but it's not very fun. There's nothing to do!"

"I agree with Albus!" replied James. "Our uncle isn't very interesting!"

"C'mon, boys, you can't judge Dudley, you just met him!"

"Keep your voices down," hissed Ginny. "We don't want them to hear!"

"Sorry," all three boys muttered.

From the kitchen loud swears could be heard. A scream erupted and a crashed sounded.

Harry locked eyes with Ginny. "Should I go look?"

"It's your cousin."

Harry got up from the chair and went to the kitchen door. Slowly, he pulled it open and peered into the petit kitchen. There, on the floor, sat a plump turkey and around the turkey stood Dudley, Roseanne and Sarah, all of whom were looking down at the turkey, dumbfounded.

"Need some help?" Harry walked all the way into the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

Dudley looked at Roseanne and then back to Harry.

"Will you be using m-a-g-i-c?" he spelled out.

Harry gave him a puzzled look. "That's what I planned on doing."

"All right, then – Roseanne, Sarah – go meet Harry's wife and kids in the sitting room. We'll take care of this."

"But, Dudley, I need to finish basting it!" cried Roseanne, her blonde hair getting frizzy.

"Harry can do that, can't you, Harry?"

All eyes landed on Harry.

"Sure I can."

"Okay," sighed Roseanne. "Let's go, Sarah."

Little Sarah, in her purple flowing dress and all, followed her mum into the sitting room. Dudley waited until will were completely gone before speaking.

"All right, Potter, do whatever it is you do."

Harry pulled out his wand and waved it at the turkey. The fat bird went zooming back into the pan that was sitting on top of the stove.

"Great," muttered Dudley, "now baste it."

Again, Harry waved his wand and watched as the Muggle device swept over the turkey. Guessing it was enough, he stopped.

"Well …?" asked Harry.

Dudley stepped over to the pan and inspected the turkey. "Looks fine to me, but I dunno how to cook."

"Okay. Let's go back into the sitting room, eh?"

"Yeah … I'll get Roseanne to check that later," replied Dudley, pointing to the pan.

~*~

Once the two cousins went back into the sitting room, only small talk could be made. Little things were brought up, like things about Ginny's family and Roseanne's; a few mentions of the kids that sat bored on the sofa and Sarah who sat on the floor; a few minutes were used to talk about "the camping trip" …

They continued to eat dinner with small talk … things like weddings and family members; jobs and houses. The kids, James, Albus and Lily, sat and ate their dinner quietly. They never spoke to Sarah and she never spoke to them. They had nothing in common. They couldn't talk about Quidditch or the latest toy at Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Nor could they talk about the best ride at the fair or the prettiest Disney princess. James, Albus and Lily had never been to a fair nor had they ever played with princesses. And Sarah had no idea about Quidditch or Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

"So, Sarah," started Ginny, trying to engage the girl in conversation, "how old are you?"

Sarah chewed the food in her mouth and then spoke. "I'm ten; I was born on fourteen July, two thousand three."

"Well, isn't that lovely," comment Ginny, smiling. "You're just two years older than James."

Sarah looked at the two boys, not sure who was who.

James stuck his hand up. "I'm James."

"Hi," said Sarah, going back to her food.

"Isn't she nice," Albus whispered into James' ear.

James rolled his eyes. "I know. She seems really excited to meet us," he whispered back.

After many long moments of nothing but forks and knives scratching against plates, Harry asked a question. An important question.

"How are your parents, Dudley?"

Tension filled the room. All eyes landed on Dudley. The children, of course, had no idea, really, about Dudley's parents.

Dudley took his time. He carefully chewed his food, wiped his mouth on a serviette, took a sip from his glass and then wiped his mouth again.

"We hadn't really talked about you since, you know, you left and we left. I don't think we ever brought you up while we were _away, _unless your – uh – _friends_ did. I moved out of the house as soon as we moved back. There wasn't any time to talk about you or where you were. We were told you lived and that was that. They didn't say where you were or where you would be staying. They never mentioned if you'd be coming by for a visit.

"Dad never talks about you … neither does Mum. I'd wonder thing aloud, like _wonder where he is_. They'd push of the topic. Not bothering to ask who "he" was. They knew it was you." Dudley paused. "I reckon they were curious. They just didn't want to make a big bother with it, you know? … I didn't tell them I was – uh – communicating with you. They'd know it was the barmy way you and your people send letters."

The room filled with silence.

Everyone ate.

After everyone had finished, Roseanne brought pudding to the table and they continued to eat in silence. Once the pudding was finished off, every cascaded into the sitting room where they sat in silence. Sarah mindlessly flicked through the channels of the television while everyone else watched or stared out the window.

Ginny broke the silence.

Looking at the large clock on the wall, she sighed and said, "Harry, I think we ought to go home. It's getting late and we're going to Mum's in the morning, the kids need to get to bed."

Harry nodded his head. "I s'pose you're right, Gin. Well, kids, let's go."

The five Potters got up from their chairs and the sofa and walked to the entry way of the Dursley's house.

"Would you like us to call you a cab?" asked Roseanne, making her way over to them.

Ginny and Harry looked at each other and then back at Roseanna. "Sure," said Harry, "that'd be great."

"Dudley, be a good husband and call for the cab, would you?"

Dudley grunted as he got out of his seat and walked into the kitchen.

"Don't let that bother you," whispered Roseanne. "It's the little things that tick him off."

There was a long stillness only filled by odd voices erupting from the television that Sarah was watching.

"Well, what is taking him so long?" asked Roseanne to on one specifically. "So … do you two plan on having anymore children?"

"No!" both Harry and Ginny explained.

"Oh, really?"

"Three is more than enough. Sometimes I wish we just had the one," replied Ginny.

"Our one will soon become two." Roseanne smiled.

"You're having another? Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

"Mum, Dad – the taxi's here!" exclaimed Albus.

"See you, Roseanne," said Ginny, ushering her kids out the door.

"Goodbye," said Harry. "Tell Dudley congratulations and thank you."

"It's no problem, Harry. And, please, come by anytime."

"Will do."

~*~

**Author's Notes:** Okay, so here is a slight description of the relationship of Harry and Dudley after the war:

_The children of Dudley Dursley and Mrs Dursley are Muggles. They would occasionally be visited by their magical cousins, the two sons and daughter of their father's cousin, Harry Potter. While with played with James, Albus and Lily, the children's fathers would sit silently together._ [source: .com/wiki/Dudley_Dursley%27s_children]

I imagine that after the first visit (above) things got awkward. In my own personal _Harry Potter_ world, Ginny and Dudley's wife (Roseanne) are great friends, Harry and Dudley don't like each other and the kids just kind of do their own thing.


End file.
